A Talk of Last Names
by Samurai Katagi
Summary: “But” she continued, “Akane Saotome, Saotome Akane is a fine name…” Ranma froze as he felt the blood run to his face…Just a waffy one-shot fanfic, about fiancee's first and last name combinations…RanAka (Slightly edited)


Am I weird or what? I apparently got this idea from reading _Johnny Tremain_, by Esther Forbes. It's not as boring as it sounds really. So anyway, as I was reading the part with 14 year old Johnny and his ex-fiancée I thought, "Hey this could happen with Ranma!" So here we go…one of my latest attempts to be serious while writing a fanfic. -.-; Oh yeah…sorry if they're OOC, as I've only read 7 of the manga and only seen about 60 episodes from various seasons. Oh yeah, it takes place when they're about…I dunno…17? 18?

**A Talk of Last Names**

**Summary:** _"But" she continued, "Akane Saotome, Saotome Akane is a fine name…" Ranma froze as he felt the blood run to his face…Just a waffy one-shot fanfic, about first and last name combinations…Ran/Aka_

"Hey." Ranma said, walking towards Akane, who was sitting under a _sakura_ tree, apparently _trying_ to sew something.

Akane looked up and smiled. "Back from your training trip?"

The pigtailed martial artist blinked. The tomboy was being _way_ to nice. He eyed her carefully, "Alright what'd you do? Did you lose a bet or somethin'?"

Akane sighed and brought her knees to her chest, "No it's nothing…really."

Ranma plopped down next to her, Indian-style. "What?"

Akane looked up at him once more and said, "Well…you're going to have to marry sooner or later…I mean since…with all your fiancées and all. And you have to pick one…And I was just thinking, that is—" she started twiddling her thumbs—"If you were to _not_ pick _me_ to marry…I was just thinking of—that is, if I had to pick someone else to marry, I was just thinking which surnames would go with my name…"

Ranma stared at her for a while surprised at her answer. He hastily looked away, and crossed his arms. "_That's_ what you were all sighin' for? Stupid, you don't worry about that crap, until after you marry!"

Akane forgot to get angry with Ranma at that moment and absently started twiddling her fingers again. "Well, a girl's gotta think of things like that…Anything can happen. I want to plan things out. Some one named Akane just can't marry anybody…

Ranma blinked and retorted curtly, "What d'you mean?

"Well…For instance I can't marry Ryoga--"

Ranma halted, annoyance and anger bubbling within him. But he didn't express himself. If Akane wasn't getting heated right now, neither was he. Instead he counted to ten and replied briskly, "No one asked ya to."

"I know. I'm just saying if I want my name to sound good quality after I'm married, I shouldn't marry Ryoga; Akane Hibiki isn't that bad, but honestly Hibiki Akane just isn't to my taste."

Ranma was blinking again; he was doing a lot of this right now. Was she really saying this? If he kept blinking, would he wake up from a weird dream? After blinking a few more times, he refrained from replying, since he couldn't think of anything to say back.

"Or if I were to marry Kuno—"

"You can't marry Kuno. He's too…"

"Too…different?" Akane finished, "For lack of a better word?"

"Yeah…" Ranma said. "And besides. Kuno Akane or Akane Kuno are two really bad name combinations." He meant it as a sort of joke, but Akane took it seriously.

"Yeah…" she answered quietly. Then she thought of a new approach to the conversation. "And _you _couldn't marry either of the Kunos, Shampoo, or Ukyou."

Ranma chuckled softly. "Somehow, 'The Pig-tailed Girl' Kuno ain't gonna cut it for me."

Akane smiled; She had made him laugh. , "What about Kodachi Saotome? Or Shampoo Saotome—now _that's_ terrible."

Ranma grinned back, "But…Ukyou Saotome isn't that bad—"

Now Ranma had just made a mistake right there. Akane angrily turned away and shouted, "Well if Ukyou Saotome isn't 'that bad', than Hibiki Akane is the greatest!" She threw a random mallet at him with a huff and moved to a different side of the _sakura_.

Her outburst had caught Ranma by surprise making him do the _oyakusoku pozu_. (The 'surprise pose' in which the index, pinky and thumb are extended.) _Now _THAT'S_ the maniac tomboy he knew_!

After an hour, Akane seemed to cool down a bit and whispered. "Hibiki Akane is a good name…"

Ranma peered back at her from around the tree. _So she was talking to him again?_

"But" she continued, "Akane Saotome, Saotome Akane is a fine name…"

Ranma froze as he felt the blood run to his face. "Uhm—"

"I've thought of that ever since you came to the dojo and Dad told me I had to marry you. I was 16 then…"

A long silence followed. Neither of them said anything for a long time. Ranma examined Akane. Brown eyed with a short hair cut. "_Cute_" He observed her some more, picking out little details of her, he had never noticed before.

Akane was packing up her sewing. "I have to finish some homework." She said shortly, trying to avoid Ranma's eyes, her face red as well.

Before she was halfway towards the dojo, she felt someone grab her hand; she whirled around and saw Ranma, whose cheeks were dusted with a red tinge.

There was another so long a pause, that the pigtailed martial artist's next words sound awkward. "You were right about one thing," he said, trying to sound smug, "Akane Saotome is a good name." He had meant this as a joke, but after the words left his mouth, he realized it wasn't.

They both stood embarrassed, looking down, their faces redder than ever.

"Yeah…" was the only reply a bewildered Akane could think of. "Yeah it is."

Somewhere else, in all their respective locations, Tatewaki Kuno, Kodachi Kuno, Shampoo, Ryoga, and Ukyou all sneezed and rubbing their nostrils all said, "Someone must be talking about me."

* * *

So how was that?! R&R please! I think its pretty cute, what d'you think? PS, If you liked this check out my other fics. Thank you!

**Edit (December 2, 2004):** I should have edited this a long time ago. But I was informed by **Ghost in the Machine**that often times men take the women's surname in Japan. I really don't think I should change that in my story, as I think it's fine the way it is. I will be sure to watch out for that in future fanfics. Thank you.

Oh also, 'wrist' was changed to 'hand' in one of the last pragraphs. I thought it would be cuter that way.

S.K.


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